Galvanizing Collective Action to Accelerate Reductions in Maternal and Newborn Mortality and Prevention of Stillbirths

With less than 10 years remaining to achieve the sustainable development goals, there is an urgent need for collective action to accelerate progress for maternal and newborn health and prevention of stillbirths. We outline a new global initiative, AlignMNH, designed to create opportunities to better align efforts and drive improvements. Historically, global efforts to accelerate progress toward achieving health and well-being for women and children have appeared separate, despite the inextricable links among maternal, perinatal, and newborn health outcomes. Accelerating progress demands that the maternal and newborn health (MNH) community more rapidly and effectively share learning, new evidence, and program experiences. A new global initiative, AlignMNH, will establish a country-driven, multidirectional knowledge hub and series of convenings to promote purposeful knowledge sharing and problem solving and align on priorities for action. These efforts are intended to facilitate increased application of evidence and regular review of progress ultimately contributing to improved MNH and prevention of stillbirths.